News and Opinions on Cheesesteaks, Hoagies, TastyKakes and other Philadelphia Foods

I know I’ve said before that I only enjoy one cheesesteak per month.Â But sometimes a party in Fairmount and a call to get cheesesteaks is made.Â Â That would do it right?Â But what happens two days later when there’s a rain delay at the ballpark and you are starving?Â Well, there’s the cheesesteak stand.Â And that’s how you eat two steaks in a weekend.Â So which was better?

Let’s go to the tale of the tape

Category

PATS

CBP

ORDER

American Wit — This keeps the line moving at 2am.

Cheesesteak with Fried Onions — The Aramark employees know of two kinds of steaks. With onions or without. How do they know the difference? The way it’s wrapped.

ROLL

Solid roll. Fresh.

The steak was kept in a heater that looked like a refrigerator. The bread was quite soggy from the humidity.

CHEESE

The American cheese was cold and not melted. The trick? Hold the roll together around the hot meat. Bingo. Cheese is melted.

The American cheese was melted and intermingled with the meat. If this trick is learned or just happenstance from the heat machines.

MEAT

The reason I don’t recommend tourists get steaks from Pat’s and Geno’s because i don’t think they are prepared for the meat to be sliced so thick. It’s an acquired taste. The meat on my steak was excellent. My buddy Waynes a little grisly. Good for me.

The meat that didn’t have cheese intermingled was a little dry. Fortunately, the moist roll cancelled that out.

ONIONS

Quite fresh. Actually, I have no thoughts on this. I just remember there were onions here. And plenty of them.

Quite fresh. Actually, I have no thoughts on this. I just remember there were onions here. And not enough of them.

Verdict

Pat’s wins in a close race. The key? I wanted a second steak. But the line had gotten much bigger at that point. So I gave myself a pass.

I shared a steak earlier in the year with my mom. And it was okay. But not as good as the steak today. The cheese was the difference maker here. Good job by Aramark. I will get to Rick’s and Tony Luke’s before the season is out. But remember only ONE steak per month!